That Was Then, This Is Now
by Black Magician Girl
Summary: *Ch. 2 up* Hikaru Agata. A legendary medafighter. The one who 'caused' the '10 Days of Darkness.' He ruined the World Robattle Tournament 8 years ago. Or did he? More information is released. Old friends and memories resurface for Henry. Plz r/r!
1. When All Pain Becomes a Nightmare

Disclaimer: I do not own Medabots. 

Authors note: Hey everybody. I've finally started working on my Henry fic. Can you believe it took me over a week just to write this one chapter? Mainly because of school stuff and how I write in 'secret.' And my mind was just flooding with too many ideas for this fic. Gotta straighten them all up. My other Henry fic will be updated as soon as I think of something to write. Remember to r/r!

"........." speaking

'.........' thinking

~ Henry's dream ~ 

"Hikaru! What are you doing?!! Answer me!..."

"Please stop Hikaru! Why are you doing this?..."

"Hikaru! Hikaru!!!..."

"How dare you utter the name Hikaru Agata!..."

"Those kids, they were using KBT-type medabots. It makes me think of our old friend Hikaru..."

"Don't even bring up his name. I still can't believe what he did. He doesn't deserve to be a medafighter. He ruined the good name of the 'Magnificent Medafigther!' He'll pay for that..."

"Fine. I'll tell you, but you won't like it. 8 years ago, my former friend, Hikaru Agata..."

"Stop! Phantom Renegade, you're under arrest for causing the 10 Days of Darkness…"

A younger version of Henry, from 8 years ago, was standing in the middle of nowhere. 

All those voices he had heard just now had suddenly stopped. Darkness was all around him. Tall, raging flames surrounded him. Fire was his greatest fear; it had killed his father years before. Metabee was lying on the ground near him, motionless. Metabee was no longer functioning, his medal was damaged too greatly. Henry was all alone and had no way of escape. He cried for help, but no one was there to hear him. His knees began to give in; the heat of the flames was getting to him. Henry finally fell to the ground from exhaustion. He held Metabee in his arms and pleaded for him to wake up, but it was no use. There was no hope for Henry. The flames were coming in closer. Scared, he curled into a ball, still with Metabee in his grasp. He began to cry softly, and through the flames of the fire, he saw a familiar figure walk towards him. 

"J-joe?......is that you?" Henry stuttered. It indeed turned out to be Joe Swihan. He was not alone though. Patra turned out to be right behind him. They both looked down Henry. Henry didn't understand why they were being so silent. "Joe...Patra, say something. Please help me," whimpered the young boy. Patra only looked at the ground infront of her feet sadly, while a smirk crept up on Joe's face. "Now do you understand Hikaru?" Joe said coldly. "To have your hopes and dreams crushed by someone you know, and you can't do anything to stop it? No, you'll never understand that..." And with that, they both walked away. "Joe, Patra don't go. I'm sorry. For everything! Just don't leave me here alone!" Henry shouted. But they continued walking. Patra did turn her head to look back, only to give Henry a disappointed look. Then they both disappeared into the fire. Henry was alone again. "I'm sorry..." he said softly as hot tears went streaming down his face. 

~End of dream~

Henry shot out of bed. He was drenched in sweat. "It was only a dream," Henry said out loud. This was the forth time he had that exact dream, or should I say, nightmare this month! 'Maybe it's a sign, of something to happen soon?' Henry was too tired to think of what it could mean. He looked at his alarm clock. It was 4:30 in the morning. 'I might as well get up. I won't fall asleep now anyway.' He got out of bed and started to walk towards his kitchen to make some coffee.

Henry had a pretty nice home. He lived in a peaceful neighbourhood on the 8th floor of an apartment building. His apartment was pretty much normal; average sized kitchen and bathroom, etc. The living room lead to the balcony with an amazing view of the city. There were two bedrooms in Henry's apartment, even though he practically lived by himself with Arcbeetle. The second bedroom wasn't really considered to be a bedroom, more like a very large closet or a storage room.

Henry was heading to the balcony, when he stumbled upon an object on the floor. "Hmmm...what's this?" he questioned as he knelt down to pick it up. It was a picture frame. It had fallen off from its shelf from a tall bookcase in Henry's living room. It didn't have just any ordinary photo in it either. It showed a very young Joe and Patra, along with Henry himself, enjoying ice cream at an amusement park. It was one of those times when the 'Magnificent Medafighters' got a break from touring the world. (Now you'd be wondering why Henry would have something like this out in the open where questioning people could see. Well no one ever visited Henry, except for the occasional Dr. Aki, so there was nothing to worry about.) Henry let out a long sigh, as he began recalling that time. "Joe and I had gotten chocolate ice cream, while Patra ordered vanilla. Me and Joe argued with Patra on how chocolate was way better than vanilla." He chuckled a bit. "Patra managed to win in the end though...stubborn girl." Henry stood up, with the picture frame still in his hand and looked out the window, to see the sun rise. He looked back at the photo. 'I wonder how they're doing right now?' Henry thought to himself. 'Do they still hate me? Probably. It's like how the sun will always rise and set each day. That will never change, for awhile at least. Some things never change.'

Henry put the frame back in its rightful place on the bookshelf. He stared at all the other pictures there. One of them was a photo of Henry and his parents when he was only a little kid. Then there was a photo of just Henry's mother. She was a very pretty lady. She had fair skin and long, flowing, dark brownish-red hair. Henry had gotten his black hair from his father. Henry's mother looked happy in the photo. Of course, what she looked like now could have all changed, since that photo was taken many years ago. Henry picked up that picture frame off the shelf and stared at the image of his mom for a few minutes. He then gently wiped some dust off the frame with his fingers. He walked to the balcony and stared out at the whole city.

"I know you're out there somewhere," Henry finally said, in a quiet tone. "I'll find you one day Mom..." he looked down as a small tear rolled down his cheek. "Henry?" said a voice familiar to Henry. "Henry, I think you should get going. If you don't you'll be late for work," the medabot said in his deep voice. (A/N: I really don't now how Arcbeetle talks, ok? I haven't really heard him say much in the series, so don't blame me if he doesn't sound normal.) He noticed how his medafighter hadn't uttered a single word yet and was still on the balcony. He didn't know Henry was crying. "Henry, are you okay? Why are you being so still and quiet? It's not like you to do so," the medabot said worriedly. Henry finally snapped back into reality. He wiped his tears away with the back of his hand. "Oh..I'm fine Arcbeetle. I was just thinking about some things. Yeah you're right, I should be getting ready for work." And with that, he hurried to get ready so he wouldn't be late for his day job. 

( A/N: So how was it you guys? This is like my first REAL chaptered fic, so go easy on me. Remember to r/r! Any and all flames will be used to plunge the world into another '10 Days of Darkness.' You wouldn't want that to happen, would you? Bye for now ^_^ ) 


	2. Lost Mail

Disclaimer: I do not own Medabots. But I did make up the Robattle Times.  
  
Author's note: Ok ppl, I finally updated. I would've done it sooner, but I've had a rough week of school. Thanks for all the reviews, but I need more for my other fic, 'Regarding the past, Present, and Future.' That should be updated soon too.  
  
Van the Key of Lain: I'm not sure what you mean when you say this is, 'valuable information,' because I made all this stuff up. Except for those voices Hikaru heard in the beginning of ch. 1. Those were actually what I remembered from the show. Some of them may not be the exact wording, but it's close enough. Just thought I'd say that just to clear some things up. R/R people! The characters might be a little OOC. Hope you like this chapter.   
  
"..." speaking  
  
'...' thinking   
  
  
  
~ At the 24 Hopmart ~   
  
Henry sat at the counter bored out of his skull. Business was slow today. Then Metabee, followed by Ikki, walked in. "Hey you two," Henry said cheerfully, "What have you guys been up to lately?"  
  
"Nothing much," replied Ikki, "But we've actually come here to get away from." Ikki looked around to see if anyone else was listening, "....Erika." "Erika?" Henry said surprisingly. "Yeah man, I think she's finally lost her marbles or something," said the always talkative Metabee. "Yeah, we've been with her for awhile now, and for the past 20 minutes, she's been yabbering on and on about how life stinks and what a conspiracy things are and." Ikki added in until a certain someone interrupted.  
  
"It's a conspiracy, a conspiracy I say!" said Erika, who had just barged in unannounced. "Why hello Henry," she said in her suddenly calm tone of voice. "What seems to be wrong Erika?" Henry said out of curiosity.  
  
Erika gave up a small smile, "Well thank you for asking Henry. I'm glad somebody cares to her about my problems, unlike SOME people here," she looked over to Ikki and Metabee, who were reading some comic books.  
  
"Hey! We listened to you talk," Ikki answered back in his defense. "Yeah," Metabee said, "For 20 minutes, that is a long time to be listening to someone natter on and on and." "I do not natter on and on!!!" yelled Erika. "I just have a lot to say, that's all."  
  
Directing her attention back to Henry, Erika continued, "Anyways Henry, as I was going to say, I have to write a major article for my school newspaper. And I'd like to finish it some time this YEAR! But the problem is, there is nothing to write about. The World Robattle Tournament's over and Team Japan didn't win, as it was a tie."  
  
"Hey it's not our fault the Rubberrobo Gang were behind it all!!!!!" shouted Ikki and Metabee.  
  
"Anyways," said Erika, "Nothing's new with Ikki and Metabee. What kind of city is this? There's not even a cat stuck up in a tree to report about, or a puppy drowning in a river, or...."  
  
Henry just stood there politely listening to what Erika had to say, 'Man, now I know what Ikki means when he says she yabbers on and on and....'  
  
Henry lost his train of thought when a short, energetic kid with spiky hair came into the store. "Yo wuzzup dudes?" said Rintaro. "Hey Rintaro," said everyone in the store. "Yo Erika, I got like the perfect like topic for your newspaper article."  
  
"Oh yeah? What is it?" said Erika, more interested in Rintaro than Henry at the moment.  
  
"The Magnificent Medafighters!" Rintaro replied cheerfully. Henry was looking a bit tense. We all know why. Everyone else just stared at Rintaro dumbfounded. "Who?" they all said.  
  
"What?! You don't know? The team who rocked the world 8 years ago! They were invincible! But they broke up a long time ago. My hero you know, Hikaru Agata, was on that team dudes," Rintaro said knowingly. "Youngest member on Team Japan then too. Patra from Team Egypt and Joe Swihan from Team USA were on that team too you know dudes."  
  
"Hmm.that's not a bad topic Rintaro," answered Erika. "One thing though, why did they break up? And how did you know I needed to write an article in the first place?"  
  
Rintaro gave her a puzzled look, "Geez dude.I don't really know. I heard it was 'cuz everyone thought Hikaru Agata caused the 10 Days of Darkness or something. But I know he's innocent! And I could also hear your bickering from half way down the street."  
  
"It's the perfect news story!!!" yelled Erika, who apparently didn't hear Rintaro's last statement. "Ah!" shouted Ikki, who was holding his ears. "Erika, you don't have to yell you know!"  
  
"Oops....sorry Ikki, but it is the perfect story! A team that went to the top, later to be torn apart by a series of unfortunate events. All leading different lives now, one of them, their whereabouts, and what they're doing now, shrouded in mystery. What a story! This could be my career making headline!" said Erika, all starry-eyed. Everyone else just sweatdropped.  
  
Henry was the first one to speak up. "Erika," he said with concern in his voice, "Don't you think you should report on an easier topic? I mean, all that stuff with the Magnificent Medafighters happened a pretty long time ago. I don't think you'd find the information you'd need."  
  
"Darn," said Erika as she rubbed her chin a little, "Maybe you're right Henry. Too bad Joe and Patra left Japan two weeks ago. If they were still in town, maybe I could've interviewed them."  
  
Henry breathed a sigh of relief, 'It's good they're not here. Though half of me wish they were, I don't need Joe badmouthing me now.'  
  
"Yo Henry," said Rintaro, "What are you talking about? In this month's Robattle Times, half of the magazine's dedicated to the Magnificent Medafighters! I can't wait to get it!" "Great!" said Erika, "Then I'll be able to do my article once and for all."  
  
Henry bit down on his lower lip. This was not going to be good. "Rintaro," he said, "Yeah dude?" "Just out of curiosity, have you ever seen a photo of Hikaru Agata before?" Secretly he was hoping it was no.  
  
Rintaro thought about that for a second, "Now that ya ask....I'm saying no dudes."  
  
Ikki was now in the conversation. "No? How can you say Hikaru Agata is your greatest hero ever if you've never even seen the guy?"  
  
"Dudes, quit with the questions already! Like what Henry said, this mall like happened a long time ago. I bet the Robattle Times will have wicked pictures of Hikaru. I gotta get my hands on a copy!"  
  
Metabee, who was done his comics books, said, "Hikaru this, Hikaru that. Is that all you guys talk about? What's so good about that guy anyway? I bet I could probably take down him and his medabot no sweat."  
  
Henry smirked a bit, 'Whatever you say Metabee. You may be good, pretty good as a matter of fact, but I got skill. And experiences you'll never have....'  
  
"Metabee," said Ikki, "We're talking about Hikaru Agata here. You know, the same Hikaru Agata from the Magnificent Medafighters? Supposedly the best medafighter in the world? Has any of that info sunk into brain yet?"  
  
"That was 8 years ago Ikki!" exclaimed Metabee. "Who knows what he could be doing now? For all we know, he could've quit robattling and is now working as a store clerk under a secret identity!"  
  
"That is the dumbest thing you've said all day Metabee," Ikki said, "You watch too much TV for your own good."  
  
For a second there, Henry thought Metabee might have been catching on to him.  
  
"Ikki, do you have a subscription to the Robattle Times?" asked Erika. "Yeah, but why are you asking? Don't you have one too?" said Ikki.  
  
"Yes," replied Erika, "But my subscription for this month suspiciously hasn't come yet. I need it if I'm ever going to do my article! It should've came by now. How about you?"  
  
"It's funny you should ask. I haven't gotten my copy of the Robattle Times yet either. A coincidence?" "Hardly," Erika said in an annoyed tone. "Heh,"said Ikki, "Maybe our subscriptions are lost in the mail. You can never really trust the mail system nowadays....."  
  
Of course Ikki and Erika continued talking, but Henry couldn't hear them. He wasn't paying attention anymore. He was completely zoned out. He didn't even notice the anime cloud fight going on between Rintaro and Metabee, which started when Metabee made fun of Hikaru Agata. No, all Henry could hear now were some words Ikki had said. "....lost in the mail...."  
  
~ Flashback ~  
  
It was 4 am. Everyone in the city was fast asleep. Well, almost everyone that is. A young boy, by the name of Hikaru Agata, was moving swiftly across the city. He was out mailing a letter.  
  
Two important letters actually. Every now and then Hikaru would make sure no one was following him. He was always in danger when he went out, which was not a lot. Even in the early morning when practically no one was up yet, he had to be on guard.  
  
The 10 Days of Darkness had past about 2 months ago. The world was safe, thank god, for now at least. But the people knew what Hikaru did, and the Select Corps were after him. He only went out in the earliest and darkest of times. These were the only times Dr. Aki thought it was safe for him.  
  
Hikaru quickly made it to a mailbox. He was mailing 2 letters, both in blue envelopes. One was being sent to the USA, the other, Egypt. He hoped the letters would make it to their destinations and fast. He had a lot of explaining to do. After Hikaru dropped the letters down the slot, he left to go back immediately, so he would be back before sunrise.  
  
There was something Hikaru didn't know though. A few hours later, the mail carrier came to collect the mail. When putting it into his bag, he accidentally dropped two blue envelopes, one being sent to the USA, the other, Egypt, on the ground. From there, a gust of wind blew them down a storm drain. The letters were never delivered. Two certain people never learned the truth about Hikaru. But Hikaru didn't know that. And he never got an answer back either.  
  
~ End of Flashback ~  
  
  
  
"Henry? Henry?!!" said Erika, "Earth to Henry! Are you paying attention?" "Uh, huh, what? What did you say Erika?" Henry asked.  
  
"I said if you don't do something soon Henry, Rintaro and Metabee are going to trash the 24 Hopmart!" replied Erika.  
  
"Ah! My boss isn't gonna like this. Sorry kids, if you're gonna fight, fight outside!!!" And with that, Henry kicked Rintaro, Metabee, Erika, and Ikki out of the store.  
  
"Hey!" argued Erika, "Why did he kick US out? We weren't doing anything."  
  
"Maybe this time he's really mad," Ikki guessed, "C'mon, let's go."  
  
It's not that Henry was mad, he just needed some peace and quiet. He had enough problems of his own already.  
  
  
  
  
  
( I'm finally done typing this chapter. Longest yet. R/R ppl! You should know MY flame policy by now ^_^ Ja ne! ) 


End file.
